Don't get sick in Aussie

[Hillbilly]

Well, I go to my South African doctor with a real nasty chest complaint, and he immediately diagnoses pnuemonia!! No charge for the consultation either as he "bulk bills", and it's covered by Medicare. So I get sent for an emergency blood test. The "professionals" in the lab are too busy kissing andf cuddling to notice "URGENT" and "EMERGENCY" on the blood test form. So who knows how long before I get the reults back. What;s worse is today I go for a chest X-Ray with PNUEMONIA clearly typed on the referral sheet, and this fat bitch behind the desk says "wait until your number is called".

So I finally get an xray. Right lung clearly shows a large mass above my heart. What do I get from fatty? Empathy? Understanding? NO!! "That'll be $91.95 thanks. You'll be able to pick up the xrays after 2pm on thursday as we don't deliver to doctor's".

At he mo' I'm on 2g of antibiotics a day as well as 1g paracetamol every 6 hours for the pain. I have to wait 2 more days to get some serious medical attention! Well, don't get sick in Aussie.

[Ixion]

I feel for y' dude. I had that earlier this year. Crook as the drover's dog after he ate the damper. For a bit there I didn't even feel up to riding, that's how bad it was.

First lot of antibiotics did squat all, so the quack (no better or worse than any of them, first time I'd been to one in 50 years) switched to another sort, they knocked the infection, but the side effects made me even sicker, so Mrs Ixion marched along and told him what sort to prescribe (she knows all about microbes - proly why she married me) , those ones sorted it out.

Tell you what, though, even once they sort the pneumonia out, you'll be as weak as a kitten for ages, I'm still only just getting back to my original grumpy self. It knocks you about something fearful.

And if the antibiotics don't seemed to be doing theor thing, go back and tell the quack to change 'em, don't wait around. You should notice something happen within 2 to 3 days, you may feel worse at first , that's the bugs all dying off.

But if you start feeling really bad, down and gloomy and like nothing's ever going to come right, and it's all a waste of time, go back and tell him to change them, cos that's one of the side effects.

Keep warm, get as much sleep as y' can, an , if worst comes to worst, you may even have to travel by cage for a bit.

God keep you. (And I still think that if y' could find a witch that knew her weedlore and wortcraft, that'd be well worth a shot. I reckon that the herbal stuff did more to help than all the doctor stuff once the actual pneumonia was knocked off)

[Hillbilly]

Thanx so much for the kind words. This bug is really strange. It's just too fast. I had a tickle in my right lung close to my heart on Sunday afternoon, with a bit of a cough. By 1am I was coughing up blood mixed with phlemn. Most stange is I couldn't and still can't sleep!! The pain is really aweful. It's spread up to my throat and nose which feel like they're on fire.

I've been prescribed 2g Amoxil a day, which kinda helps as long as I don't breath deeply. If I do I go into coughing fits with unbearable pain. Please ask the missus if she has any idea what this is as nobody over here has a clue, and apart from my doctor, nobody cares!!

[Ixion]

Well, the not able to sleep bit I an relate to. For about a month if I did manage to get to sleep I'd wake up around 3am and there was no hope of sleep . I'd go and sit outside, because the cooler air made it a bit easier to breath and I didn't wake the missus.

I also had the pain in the nose and round the eyes. That's probably because you've also got sinusitis. Basically, you get an infection in the throat , which is no big deal, proably you don't even notice it,but then the bugs split up and one lot travel down into your lungs to give you bronchitis and pneumonia, and the others travel up into the sinuses to give you sinusitis.You notice those all right.

Amoxil was the first antibiotic they prescribed me, its a cheap basic penicillin, but most bugs nowdays are pretty resistant to it, as mine was. If you don't see an improvement by the 3rd or 4th day, it's not working and you need to go back to the doctor and get a different one. The second one he tried was ciprofloxin, which is a heavy duty antibiotic, killed the bugs but nearly killed me too, with massive side effects. Third one was erythromycin.

The problem is that the best way to find what antibiotic to use is to culture the bug in the lab and see what kills it. But with a chest infection it's hard to get a culture that isn't contaminated with other throat bugs , because we always have a whole bunch of bugs in our noses and throat.So they just have to try a few different ones.

I found that Strepsils capsules helped to stop the cough, I sort of wanted to cough to clear the plegm but when I it'd it hurt like hell, so I used the capsules to stop the cough,but you have to get the ones with diphenhydramine in them, most of the varieties are useless.

The antibiotic will stop the tickle if you've got the right ones.

The problem sleeping seems to persist long after the actual infection is sorted.

[NotaGoth]

Sounds like the doctors where I live... Anythings wrong with you they just send you home with painkillers...

I was back and forth to the doctor over the space of a week... "The pains getting worse" "Oh ok take 4 instead of 2".. At the end of the week I was doubled over in pain.. Was a nurse that realized what was wrong.. Had a major kidney infection..

Lady I know.. Same thing... Sent home with pain killers... Shes now 6 feet under... Had a tumour in her brain, for months they fobbed her off.. Til eventually she had a bleed and died..

Reminds me of another guy I know...

Also my old man.. Had surgery to remove a tumour.. Never the same again.. Kept going back saying he was getting worse.. Was in more and more pain.. They kept prescribing pain killers and told him he'd "never be the same again" Again he was prescribed higher doses of pain killers... They'd missed a tumour which eventually killed him.. If they had of listened.. Who knows... To late though.. Where is he now????

Sounds harsh but look on the bright side.. Your still kicking...

[Hillbilly]

I managed to get some sleep by taking the herbal tranqualizer "Sleep Ezy" by Nature's Own. It contains Valarian, Passiflora and Hops. That was after a horrendous 5 minute coughing fit. Coughed up all sorts of garbage including blood. The worst of it was my right lung sounding (and feeling) like a trumpet as I tried to breath in.

I'm feeling a bit better today though. Still have hot flushes although the Amoxil seems to be working. I had a chest infection 3 years ago when I first got here and was prescribed erythromycin. I had to take 2 courses for one month before the infection was beaten. I think the doc has prescibed Amoxil (for one week) just until he gets the blood tests so he knows what he's dealing with. Of course, the results still aren't ready.

[dickytoo]

having just spent a year in Sydney but back in old enzed now, i found medicines to be cheaper there. i'm paying $555 for 3 months of avandia which is unsubsidised here but i only paid about $90 for three months worth there.

health insurance is cheaper here but i have to go to the doctors twice as often to get my prescriptions renewed.

bulk billing is good but getting that old medicare card is very important.

[Hillbilly]

Yeah, I got the Medicare card. I'll be able to get back a good portion of the $91.95 cost of the X-ray. Some doctors will prescribe 6 months worth of meds including repeats. I've also got Athsma, and it's $17 for 2 Ventolin inhalers per script. (there are 2 repeats) I was offered a got the generic Asmol inhaler for $5 cheaper by the Chemist.

It's not the cost of getting sick here, but the "couldn't care less" or blaze` attitude of some of the health care workers. I won't get the xray results until tomorrow afternoon, and i have to go get them myself.

[LilSel]

Hope you feel better soon Hillbilly. I feel for ya!!
I came within half n hour of losing my life to Pnemonia... 3 years ago. was in hospital for 6 days on drips n stuff and had never been in so much pain in my life. mine was also around the heart and lower left lobe something a rather.

When in hospital what helped me quite a bit was what was described by doc as 'huffing', it kinda hurt and made me spew n stuff, but bought stuff up outta lungs n felt better once it was out.
Basically breath right out then keep breathing out in short burts then cough and lots of shit will come up.

It takes a long time for your lungs n stuff to heal after pnemonia.

Take care n keep warm n stuff *hugs*

[dickytoo]

Yeah, I got the Medicare card. I'll be able to get back a good portion of the $91.95 cost of the X-ray. Some doctors will prescribe 6 months worth of meds including repeats. I've also got Athsma, and it's $17 for 2 Ventolin inhalers per script. (there are 2 repeats) I was offered a got the generic Asmol inhaler for $5 cheaper by the Chemist.

It's not the cost of getting sick here, but the "couldn't care less" or blaze` attitude of some of the health care workers. I won't get the xray results until tomorrow afternoon, and i have to go get them myself.

yeah, i know what you mean. my cousin's kid got sick (in Sydney) and they spent 8 hours in the hospital with a sick baby. they were instructed not to feed their baby anything and 8 hours later, when the poor kid got so dehydrated, they were told off by the doctor when in fact they were complying with the admitting medico's instructions! it cost them $800 for a room for the night at that hospital and i think they were not happy with the care they received.

the care factor seems to be zero. my experiences weren't so bad but i had to argue with the officials to get my medicare card.

[Hillbilly]

When in hospital what helped me quite a bit was what was described by doc as 'huffing', it kinda hurt and made me spew n stuff, but bought stuff up outta lungs n felt better once it was out.
Basically breath right out then keep breathing out in short burts then cough and lots of shit will come up.

It takes a long time for your lungs n stuff to heal after pnemonia.

Take care n keep warm n stuff *hugs*

Thanx LilSel. Tried the "huffing". Worked, but the pain is incredible. I really wonder what kinda bug can give you full blown pneumonia in under 12 hours.
H1N1 anybody? (Tickle in lung at 3pm, coughing up blood and phlemn by 1am.)

The main airway feels like it's on fire all the time. My workmates wish me well, but the healthcare "professionals" couldn't give a damn. It's kinda like they turn up for the job and do the bare minimum that's required in order to get paid. A chef I work with told my flatmate he got pnuemonia 3 times in hospital. I haven't so much as got a sniffle in 3 years, and now this.

[mstriumph]

.............It's not the cost of getting sick here, but the "couldn't care less" or blaze` attitude of some of the health care workers..............

i feel for you - but truth is i have a scathing line in sarcasm when i'm pissed off ... bullies annoy me [and treating sick people badly IS bullying!] and feeling off-colour or victimised makes me reaaaaaaally irritated anyway.

- when circumstances demand it and it's in a good cause [my own or someone else's] i have no compunction about unleashing the inner bitch .......

got an injured African woman treated in a white hospital in johannesburg back at the time of the soweto riots DESPITE the frantic attempts of the reception staff to throw us out ............. you can do whatever you put your mind to

.......think what might work, Hillbilly - then just do it!

[Hillbilly]

Well LilSel and Ixion, the bug is the deadly pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is nasty. It gives off Hydrogen Peroxide to kill off any competition and the immune system. That's whay it's so quick and lethal.
Also explains the burning sensations/pain. The good news is it's not resistant to Amoxcyllin.

Like Ixion said, I'll be "as weak as a kitten" for quite some time. Got prescribed a month's lot of Amoxil. No side affects, and I'm on the mend with a healthy apetite and sleep. Looks like I got it in time. Thanks for all your support guys

[Ixion]

As the name implies, the classic pneumonia villain. You're lucky it's not resistant to amoxycillan, most are nowdays. Good to hear it's sorted, hope you'll be back to full health soon.